Central heating systems often provide the facility to configure heating and hot water schedules. For example, a user may wish to program the heating to be on during the early morning, and again in the evening, but off during the day when nobody is home, or during the night. Past solutions have included mechanical timers directly integrated into the boiler, as well as digital control devices connected to the boiler. However, such systems have often been cumbersome and awkward to use due to the limitations of their user interfaces, and are generally limited in flexibility.
Some modern systems allow schedules to be programmed from a personal computer, tablet PC or smartphone, for example using a web interface or application. While this can provide flexibility, it introduces reliance on additional devices and home networking infrastructure, and may not be convenient for all users.
Interactions other than schedule programming are also affected by the limitations of past approaches.